A copperplate engraving of a map titled “Sketch of the Country Illustrating the late Engagement in Long Island”, which is a Revolutionary War map featuring Long Island and the site of the Battle of White Plains in New York in 1776. If you look closely, you can see small rectangles on the map which represent units from Washington’s military forces in their battle against the British, and the map covers a pivotal time during the war. The British had placed General William Howe in charge of the greatest army England had ever sent overseas, forces far superior to any the Americans could put on the field. In June 1776, a large British war fleet led by Howe sailed into New York harbor and a month later an army of 10,000 men landed on Staten Island, unopposed by the Americans. During July and August British reinforcements continued to build up until Howe was in command of a force of 32,000 men, including German mercenaries, and in the final days of August, Howe inflicted a crushing defeat on Washington's army. To escape the onslaught, Washington withdrew his forces from Brooklyn Heights to Manhattan. Less than two weeks later, he decided to evacuate New York City rather than be trapped in lower Manhattan, but before he withdrew from the city, Washington prepared fortifications in upper Manhattan and was able to repulse the British army in the Battle of Harlem Heights. In October, with British forces advancing, Washington evacuated his main force from Manhattan Island, leaving behind a garrison at Fort Washington, and marched to White Plains, but in the Battle of White Plains, the British inflicted heavy casualties on Washington's army again; luckily Washington slipped away westward to North Castle in November, 1776. Two weeks later the British forces under Gen. Howe captured the American garrison at Fort Washington, taking more than 2800 prisoners. After deciding to abandon the New York area, Washington moved his forces across the Hudson River and into New Jersey. Joined by General Nathaniel Greene's troops at Hackensack, they retreated together toward the Delaware River with General Cornwallis at their heels. The map was published in London in The Gentleman’s Magazine in October 1776 and it was probably a propaganda map for the British - it was still early in the Revolutionary War and the British had something to crow about because of the defeat of Washington in New York - and you can see the uneven edges on the left margin of the map where the map had been removed from the magazine - the other edges are clean cut. This is the first state of the map, issued in October of 1776, pre-dating the inclusion of the battle of White Plains (consequently the second state has a different title). The map features New Jersey, Staten Island, and Long Island, and covers the New York region from Amboy, New Jersey on the southwest to Suffolk County on the east and Westchester County in New York on the north. It’s done in black and white and has two vertical folds, as called for, to fit in the magazine. The map measures 8 1/4 in. high and 13 in. wide, from margin to margin, with light creases along the margins and a brown spot near Suffolk and Hampton Plains on the right side of the map, and an important Revolutionary War map that could have forecast doom for the Americans in the Revolutionary Warm, but it didn’t - two months later, Washington had a stunning victory over the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton in New Jersey and stemmed the advance of the British after such heavy losses in New York.